MamaDrama - not your mother's festival - October 2010

Scenes from a Life with a Little Help from Antigone and Mother Goose: A Solo Play by Donna Barkman

Integrating the anger of Antigone and the nonsense of Mother Goose, a natural-born rebel reviews her life, as she dramatizes constricting gender roles and prescriptive motherhood. For audiences that appreciate a thought-provoking presentation of issues that continue to affect girls and women.

Directed by Kathline Carr. Music by Peter Barkman.

DIANE SHILLING - GETTING TO MOMMY

Getting to Mommy, directed by Cheryl King, is about a woman's late-in-life quest for motherhood through invitro fertilization. Diane Shilling stars in this one woman show which she based upon her book of the same title.

Thu, October 14

PAIRED SOLO SHOWS - WHO'S YOUR MAMA? Barbara Bleier & Ellen O'Neill

Who's Your Mama is a theatrical work consisting of two pieces, one by Barbara Bleier, the other by Ellen O'Neill. Each of the pieces enacts the lives of a woman, from the 1940's through the first decade of this century; two lives, occurring during the same time period, with distinct differences and similarities, dealing with issues that confront women in America. The pieces are serio-comedic, and deal with issues such as coming of age, marriage, motherhood, achievement, aging. Who's Your Mama is directed by Austin Pendleton.

Fri, October 15

DIPTI MEHTA - HONOUR

"Honour is a story of a mother who is caught between the struggle of survival and love. It is a story of life altering decisions and choices made by a mother for her only daughter."

Playwright : Dipti J. Mehta

Actor : Dipti J. Mehta

Director : Daniel Kadin

Dramaturge : Erica Gould

CHERYL SMALLMAN - DREAMLESS: a comedy about the "tragedies" of motherhood (comedy/drama)

written and performed by Cheryl Smallman

directed by Cheryl King

Running Time: 60 minutes

Dreamless reveals what all mothers find out, but few rarely tell their daughters.

Philosopher Cheryl Smallman sits at the playground, skewering marriage, ambition, and motherhood with dark and comic stories about her fellow mothers and her own parental ambivalence. We see what it's like to end up on "the other side of the click" - the door of the locked ward in the mental hospital. Cheryl relates hilarious adventures with her fellow patients and about how, in a mere week's time, she manages to leave the hospital with a new perspective on motherhood.

"One birthed her, one nursed her, one raised her, now she's burying all three. A daughter is called back to the red clay of Georgia to bury three moms and shape her own identity. Good Lord Almighty, who are all these crazy people at the funerals?!"

Sunday, October 17 & Monday, October 18

MARY BETH MANNING - MOTHER

Mother...she's with you wherever you go.

A one woman play, written and performed by Mary-Beth Manning, originally directed by Diana Castle is

one daughter's hilarious and touching journey to find herself, even with her mother's apron strings tethered around her neck.

A true tale about an extraordinary Irish-Catholic mother and a complicated relationship that will take you on a roller-coaster ride

from survival to forgiveness and all the insane and life-affirming moments in between.

Mother, critically acclaimed, ran in Los Angeles for over four months and received a Best Solo Performance nomination by the LA WEEKLY and an Ovation recommendation by the LA STAGE ALLIANCE.

"transcends the ordinary" LA WEEKLY

" brilliant...Mary-Beth is a star" ENTERTAINMENT TODAY

"remarkable" - TOLUCAN TIMES

Wed, October 20

ABIGAIL GAMPEL - THROUGH THE WINDOW

Through The Window

written and performed by- Abigail Gampel, directed by Holli Harms

A journey through the mental landscape of new motherhood.

A woman alone in her kitchen....a window.

Fantasy mingles with the mundane.

While the child naps.

Pregnant I was a woman.

Now I was a mother.

I had no idea.

Fri, October 22

GRACE KILEY - EYE OF THE STORM

Written, directed and performed by Grace Kiley

"You know what I'm most petrified of? That I won't admit something about myself and keep blaming it on my kid . . . like I see the rest of the world do. Am I setting him up to do my dirty work?"

SUSAN LAUBACH - WHO IS PAULA? WHAT IS SHE? & LIFE IN 3/4 TIME

"Who is Paula? What is She?" tells the story of Paula from young bride to free-at-last divorcee with humor, irony, and pathos.

"Life in 3/4 Time" When faced with taking the car keys from her aged mother, Paula reflects on her own post-middle-, pre-old-age: life in 3/4 time.

Sat, October 23

SUSAN LAUBACH - WHO IS PAULA? WHAT IS SHE? & LIFE IN 3/4 TIME

"Who is Paula? What is She?" tells the story of Paula from young bride to free-at-last divorcee with humor, irony, and pathos.

"Life in 3/4 Time" When faced with taking the car keys from her aged mother, Paula reflects on her own post-middle-, pre-old-age: life in 3/4 time.

TWO WORKS BY RICHARD BALLON:

Circus Boy, performed by Brigitte Mahaney and Will Jorden

He spun cotton candy on a tree branch, pink as the sunset...

Griselda, performed by Christine Carroll

A Mom named Griselda, with an accent in her front apron pocket, passes the test of time.

PLEASE NOTE - DUE TO UNEXPECTED CIRCUMSTANCES, CHERYL SMALLMAN WILL NOT BE PERFORMING DREAMLESS ON SAT, OCT 23. INSTEAD, SUSAN LAUBACH WILL REPRISE HER SOLO SHOW, ALSO PLAYING ON FRIDAY NIGHT. PLEASE READ FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE FOR DETAILS.